Displaying items by tag: feet

At Superior Foot & Ankle Care Center we want our Los Angeles County patients to appreciate their feet. All too often it’s easy to take our feet for granted–until they start to hurt or stop functioning the way they should to enable us to live our active and busy lives. We’d like to call your attention to some amazing facts about your feet that you may not know.

1. It takes a lot to build a good foot! Together your feet have 52 bones (which is about 25% of the total bones in your body), 66 joints, 38 muscles, 20 tendons, and 214 ligaments.
2. Your feet contain approximately 8,000 nerves–more per square centimeter than any other part of your body. Anybody feeling ticklish?
3. The Achilles tendon is the longest and strongest tendon in your body. It’s also the most injury-prone.
4. It’s no wonder feet tend to get sweaty. They contain 250,000 sweat glands which can pump out about half a pint of perspiration every day.
5. With every step you walk, each of your feet absorbs one and half times your body weight. When you run, your body is hit with the force of up to five times your body weight. Over just one day feet are hit with a couple of tons of pressure.
6. Want to go for a walk? On average, a person logs 115,000 miles in a lifetime–this is about the distance of about 5 trips around the earth.
7. To grow out a toenail completely takes 12-18 months.
8. Women suffer from foot and ankle problems four times more often than men do. This is usually linked to the shoes they wear.
9. It’s common for people to have one foot that’s bigger than the other. You should always buy shoes to fit the larger foot.
10. All babies have flat feet. The arch of the foot does not develop until the age of 3.

Now that you know more about your feet and how truly wonderful they are, take steps to ensure they stay healthy all your life. Making healthy lifestyle choices, wearing quality shoes that fit properly, and contacting our Long Beach office at (562) 420-9800 office for an appointment as soon as you notice any pain or concerning symptoms in your feet and ankles are all good ways to be proactive in the health of your feet. Our podiatrists, Dr. Victoria M. Foley and Dr. Constance Ornelas, will track down the source of your discomfort promptly and prescribe the correct treatment to get you back on track.

Do you have plans to take a vacation this summer? At Superior Foot & Ankle Care Center, we have seen too many patients happily making travel plans only to return a week later with a foot injury or other podiatric problem. Fortunately, many of these issues can be avoided if you take a few simple precautions. Below are five tips for ensuring safe travels for your feet and ankles.

1. Take breaks. If your destination is more than an hour or two away, be sure to get up and walk around a bit and stretch periodically. In a plane or train, this is easy enough to do. If you are driving, plan to stop every couple of hours and get out of the car for a short walk.
2. Wear compression stockings for long flights. These can prevent deep vein thrombosis and blood clots from forming in your legs by stimulating circulation and keeping the blood flowing to and from your extremities.
3. Choose good travel shoes. Save the strappy sandals and flip-flops for your vacation site. Wear comfortable, supportive shoes traveling to and from your destination. Hauling luggage, running for flights and packing/unpacking requires good shoes.
4. Check your children’s shoes before you go. Kids grow out of their shoes quickly. You don’t want your first “souvenir” shopping trip to be for new shoes for your child because the ones she has on your trip are too small and hurting her feet.
5. Don’t forget to pack the foot care basics. Nail clippers, an emery board, moleskin, bandages, and antibiotic ointment can save the day when it comes to minor foot injuries and preventive care.

If you sustain a foot injury or experience acute pain in your toes, feet, or ankles while you’re away, seek medical attention promptly. Be sure to follow up with an appointment at our Long Beach office (562- 420-9800) when you return so that one of our podiatrists, Dr. Victoria M. Foley or Dr. Constance Ornelas can check your feet and make sure no further treatment is necessary.